Fig. 4: Gli1⁺ MuSCs actively participate the muscle regeneration process.

a Scheme of the experimental strategy. b Immunofluorescence staining for tdT (red), Laminin (green) and DAPI (blue) in TA muscle sections at different time points after CTX injury in Gli1-CreERT2; R26-tdT mice (n = 8). dpi, days post injury. Scale bars, 50 µm. c Quantification of the percentage of the regenerated myofibers expressing tdT (n = 8). d Scheme of the experimental strategy. e Immunofluorescence staining for tdT (red), Laminin (green) and DAPI (blue) on TA muscle sections at different time points after CTX injury in Gli1-CreERT2; Pax7-DreERT2; Ai66 mice (n = 5). dpi, days post injury. Scale bars, 50 µm. f Quantification of the percentage of the regenerated myofibers expressing tdT at 14 dpi (n = 5). g Left panel: Immunofluorescence staining and enlarged images for tdT (red), Pax7 (green), Laminin (gray) and DAPI (blue) in TA muscle sections at day 14 after CTX injury in Gli1-CreERT2; Pax7-DreERT2; Ai66 mice (n = 5). The boxed regions are magnified in the panels on the right with split channels. The blue boxed region represents Pax7⁺tdT⁻ cells. The pink boxed region represents Pax7⁺tdT⁺ cells. Scale bars, 10 µm. Right panel: Quantification of the percentage of Pax7⁺tdT⁺ and Pax7⁺tdT⁻ cells at 14 dpi (n = 5). The red histogram represents the percentage of Pax7⁺tdT⁺ cells in Pax7⁺ cells. The blue histogram represents the percentage of Pax7⁺tdT⁻ cells in Pax7⁺ cells. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. All numbers (n) are biologically independent experiments. Source data are provided in the Source Data File.